Jan 27, 2016, 7:50 am
Last edit by: JDiver
Earning AA Award ("Redeemable") Miles / RDM earning as of 01 Aug 2016
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
Note: Earning RDM / Award Miles changed 1 Aug 2016 -
Award Mile changes: American Airlines announced 1 Aug 2016 they have implemented a revenue-based scheme for earning what American is calling Award Miles (previous AA terms have included "Prize-winning miles", also frequently referred to as Redeemable Miles (RDM) in this forum).
This means miles that can be spent on awards are now earned on the basis of price paid (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees such as fuel surcharges, not including government-imposed fees and taxes such as airport passenger service fees, etc.) times a factor determined by one's status. This change applies only to AA-"marketed" flights -- that is, flights booked with an "A" flight number -- with exceptions described under "Special Fares".
Partner-marketed flights (flights with a flight number other than an "AA" one) continue to earn based on miles. See below. This change applies to all flights flown on or after 1 Aug 2016, regardless of when the ticket was purchased.
Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM are merely mile posts to count for status qualification as of 01 January 2016. NOTE: some airline partner EQM changes occur 1 Aug 2016. See here. These are no longer Redeemable.
Bonus Miles: The earning of Bonus Miles (which are always Award or Redeemable Miles, never Elite Qualifying), has changed as a result of the new system. Cabin service / fare class bonus miles may be earned on flights marketed by AA airline partners; see the mileage earning chart for 1 Aug 2016 for each airline partner on aa.com.
See Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partners 2016 for more about earning EQM.
Link to aa.com page "AAdvantage program updates".
Award Miles (also called Redeemable miles)
Earning as of 01 Aug 2016 and beyond
Earn miles
To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on American and American Eagle marketed flights (including flights sold as AA codeshare flights operated by other airlines):
Calculating award miles
For travel beginning August 1, 2016, you'll earn miles based on ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, not including government-imposed taxes and fees). The more you spend, and the higher your elite status, the more you'll earn.
Or, as mchensel said in another post, to clarify:
AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar*
Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 2 miles, 40% bonus)
Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 3 miles, 60% bonus)
Platinum Pro member - 9 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 4 miles, 80% bonus)
Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 6 miles a 120% bonus)
*dollar spent on basic fare and carrier imposed fees only - not government fees or taxes, ancillary fees such as baggage, upgrade, changes, etc.
NOTE: You can earn a maximum of 75,000 award miles per E-Ticket. Note that a single PNR might have more than one E-Ticket, and various kinds of changes may cause an E-Ticket to be re-issued, which we believe resets the maximum mileage counter.
Earning award miles for travel on most flights marketed by partner airlines is based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased. Updated tables were posted 15 Jul 2016 and reflect new award earning rates on partner / fare class combinations.
See here.
Elite bonuses on partners: Earning on flights marketed by Alaska and almost all oneworld partners will also use those same elite status bonus ratios (40%/60%/80%?/120%), as announced by AA on 1 Aug 2016. See here.
Special Fares: AA has specified a set of "Special Fares", which includes AA Vacations. NOTE: Award Miles earning varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. AA Vacations), and the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017. See here.
Initial reports have revealed interesting cases which apparently fall under that final "fare isn't disclosed" catch-all, and therefore earn according to the Special Fares mileage-based table:
Again, these reports are few and preliminary. Further data points to confirm or refute these, or to add to the list, are welcome.
Elite Bonuses on Special Fares: The Special Fares page also says, "AAdvantage elite member bonuses will be applied in addition to the percentages shown for award miles." These bonuses are the same as for partner flights.
See the "Special Fares" earning chart (and note the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017). See here.
BE SURE to read the FAQs here.
Sample calculation
AAdvantage member flying round-trip on an American marketed flight from Dallas (DFW) to London-Heathrow (LHR) (NOTE: All $ figures are USD / U.S. Dollars)
In the example below, in Costa Rican Colones so used only for illustrative purposes, the airport and countered fees and taxes would be excluded from RDM calculations:
Bonus miles
Bonus (award) Miles are no longer earned as before - see earnings for EQM, A/RDM (and for 2017 EQD) here and from other partner activities such as hotel stays, auto rentals, purchases from AA shopping portal vendors and partners, credit cards, etc.
(NOTE: Bonus miles are Award / Redeemable, not Elite Qualifying, miles)
Earning as of 01 Aug 2016 and beyond
Earn miles
To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on American and American Eagle marketed flights (including flights sold as AA codeshare flights operated by other airlines):
- Buy an eligible published fare ticket in an eligible booking code
- Fly an eligible route
- Specific flights, routes or cities that are excluded from earning miles or award travel are listed as exceptions if applicable.
Calculating award miles
For travel beginning August 1, 2016, you'll earn miles based on ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, not including government-imposed taxes and fees). The more you spend, and the higher your elite status, the more you'll earn.
- AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar
- Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar (40% bonus)
- Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar (60% bonus)
- Platinum Pro member (New in 2017) - 9 miles/U.S. dollar (80%bonus)
- Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar (120% bonus)
Or, as mchensel said in another post, to clarify:
AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar*
Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 2 miles, 40% bonus)
Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 3 miles, 60% bonus)
Platinum Pro member - 9 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 4 miles, 80% bonus)
Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 6 miles a 120% bonus)
*dollar spent on basic fare and carrier imposed fees only - not government fees or taxes, ancillary fees such as baggage, upgrade, changes, etc.
NOTE: You can earn a maximum of 75,000 award miles per E-Ticket. Note that a single PNR might have more than one E-Ticket, and various kinds of changes may cause an E-Ticket to be re-issued, which we believe resets the maximum mileage counter.
Earning award miles for travel on most flights marketed by partner airlines is based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased. Updated tables were posted 15 Jul 2016 and reflect new award earning rates on partner / fare class combinations.
See here.
Elite bonuses on partners: Earning on flights marketed by Alaska and almost all oneworld partners will also use those same elite status bonus ratios (40%/60%/80%?/120%), as announced by AA on 1 Aug 2016. See here.
Special Fares: AA has specified a set of "Special Fares", which includes AA Vacations. NOTE: Award Miles earning varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. AA Vacations), and the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017. See here.
Some fares (such as bulk or consolidator fares) earn award miles and Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) at a modified rate based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the booking code.
Special fares are often purchased through a specialized agent, third party or as part of a package including air transportation and lodging.
Examples:
Special fares are often purchased through a specialized agent, third party or as part of a package including air transportation and lodging.
Examples:
- Bulk fares
- Cruise fares
- Consolidator fares
- Discounted or inclusive tour packages
- Vacation packages, including American Airlines Vacations® (AAV) packages
- Other tickets where the fare isn't disclosed, excluding bookings made through priceline.com or hotwire.com where the carrier isn't disclosed before buying
- At least some purchases made with Citi TYPs and the like
- At least some reissues, whether changed beforehand or due to IROPS
Elite Bonuses on Special Fares: The Special Fares page also says, "AAdvantage elite member bonuses will be applied in addition to the percentages shown for award miles." These bonuses are the same as for partner flights.
See the "Special Fares" earning chart (and note the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017). See here.
BE SURE to read the FAQs here.
Sample calculation
AAdvantage member flying round-trip on an American marketed flight from Dallas (DFW) to London-Heathrow (LHR) (NOTE: All $ figures are USD / U.S. Dollars)
Code:
Elite status Base fare Carrier imposed fees Miles/USD Award miles earned AAdvantage member $1,436 $458 5 9,470 Gold $1,436 $458 7 13,258 Platinum $1,436 $458 8 15,152 Executive Platinum $1,436 $458 11 20,834
Bonus miles
Bonus (award) Miles are no longer earned as before - see earnings for EQM, A/RDM (and for 2017 EQD) here and from other partner activities such as hotel stays, auto rentals, purchases from AA shopping portal vendors and partners, credit cards, etc.
(NOTE: Bonus miles are Award / Redeemable, not Elite Qualifying, miles)
Certain airline ticket types aren't eligible for mileage accrual regardless of the booking code. These include, without limitation:
- All tickets issued as AAdvantage® awards
- Charter flight tickets
- Companion tickets
- Infant tickets
- Items occupying a purchased seat
- Other free ticket promotions including free or reduced rate tickets
- Tickets purchased through a travel agency where the airline is not disclosed prior to purchase, such as Priceline or Hotwire
- Tickets issued subject to special provisions
- Travel agency/industry reduced rate tickets"
Updated 07 Jan 2017 - JDiver with thanks to spammersarescum
Historical information moved to ARCHIVE thread, link to same renewed. JDiver
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
GUIDE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
Mar 31, 2017, 11:30 am
#796
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Programs: AA CK, Marriott Plat
Posts: 193
75,000 miles max earning
Did I miss a memo on this? Just got off the phone with an agent after another trip activity did not post in my account, and she told me the segment did not qualify for bonus miles, since I have reached the maximum 75K on that single ticket number.
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
Mar 31, 2017, 11:37 am
#797
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Oakland
Programs: AA Explat, UA former 1K + PremExec, DL
Posts: 1,151
Did I miss a memo on this? Just got off the phone with an agent after another trip activity did not post in my account, and she told me the segment did not qualify for bonus miles, since I have reached the maximum 75K on that single ticket number.
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
Mar 31, 2017, 11:38 am
#798
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 1,411
Not saying it's the right thing to do, but it is on the website:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...n-airlines.jsp
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...n-airlines.jsp
Mar 31, 2017, 12:40 pm
#799
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Did I miss a memo on this? Just got off the phone with an agent after another trip activity did not post in my account, and she told me the segment did not qualify for bonus miles, since I have reached the maximum 75K on that single ticket number.
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
Mar 31, 2017, 12:43 pm
#800
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
Did I miss a memo on this? Just got off the phone with an agent after another trip activity did not post in my account, and she told me the segment did not qualify for bonus miles, since I have reached the maximum 75K on that single ticket number.
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
Mar 31, 2017, 12:59 pm
#801
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
I have not got a 7k ticket yet so I didn't know how it would post, but when OP mentioned 'no activity', it was possible that the base miles+EQM+EQS+EQD post, but the RDMs do not. In the eyes of OP, there is no activity, but in AA's system, it may have already recorded.
Mar 31, 2017, 1:12 pm
#802
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,581
Did I miss a memo on this? Just got off the phone with an agent after another trip activity did not post in my account, and she told me the segment did not qualify for bonus miles, since I have reached the maximum 75K on that single ticket number.
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
I thought the new AAdvantage model would reward higher fares on long trips, not "cap" them...
If the fares work out reasonably to do so, then when exceeding the max fare earning ($6818 fare for an EP member ) , try and purchase as separate tickets
Even though the flight earns zero redeemable mles, my understanding is that EQMs and EQDs should still have been earned , so would have expected to see some activity
Mar 31, 2017, 2:02 pm
#803
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
Anyone else notice that AA seems to have gone back and audited their RDMs? I flew a trip a few weeks ago that had IRROPs and they rebooked me into full J transcon and connection and the flights posted as distance (obviously quite more advantageous to me since I booked S or something). This morning, I noticed that I was missing a bunch of miles and saw that those segments have had the RDMs reposted as by fare. I still got the 3x EQMs so I'm not complaining, but I'm a little surprised that they went back and changed it.
ETA - Just noticed, it also changed my EQD posting down significantly which is a bit of a downer.
ETA - Just noticed, it also changed my EQD posting down significantly which is a bit of a downer.
Mar 31, 2017, 2:22 pm
#804
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
Anyone else notice that AA seems to have gone back and audited their RDMs? I flew a trip a few weeks ago that had IRROPs and they rebooked me into full J transcon and connection and the flights posted as distance (obviously quite more advantageous to me since I booked S or something). This morning, I noticed that I was missing a bunch of miles and saw that those segments have had the RDMs reposted as by fare. I still got the 3x EQMs so I'm not complaining, but I'm a little surprised that they went back and changed it.
ETA - Just noticed, it also changed my EQD posting down significantly which is a bit of a downer.
ETA - Just noticed, it also changed my EQD posting down significantly which is a bit of a downer.
Unfortunately, this is what it is supposed to be, especially after the audit. If AA really starts doing the audit, then all bets are off for all the mileage especially after IRROPs. However, how are they going to draw the line here? What if the ticket is rebooked into OneWorld partners? Are they still going to change it? I can see a scenario where the AA fare-based changed into OneWorld partner distance-based, and whether audit would change the mileage earning back to fare-based would be a good test case against AA.
Would have been much better to just credit them into AS/BA or other OneWorld and see how they are going to audit them.
Last edited by PaulInTheSky; Mar 31, 2017 at 3:02 pm
Mar 31, 2017, 4:34 pm
#805
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,138
Did you get the ticket reissued at all before check-in, or the airport rebooked you directly into full J? I found that it may not reissue the ticket at the airport.
Unfortunately, this is what it is supposed to be, especially after the audit. If AA really starts doing the audit, then all bets are off for all the mileage especially after IRROPs. However, how are they going to draw the line here? What if the ticket is rebooked into OneWorld partners? Are they still going to change it? I can see a scenario where the AA fare-based changed into OneWorld partner distance-based, and whether audit would change the mileage earning back to fare-based would be a good test case against AA.
Would have been much better to just credit them into AS/BA or other OneWorld and see how they are going to audit them.
Unfortunately, this is what it is supposed to be, especially after the audit. If AA really starts doing the audit, then all bets are off for all the mileage especially after IRROPs. However, how are they going to draw the line here? What if the ticket is rebooked into OneWorld partners? Are they still going to change it? I can see a scenario where the AA fare-based changed into OneWorld partner distance-based, and whether audit would change the mileage earning back to fare-based would be a good test case against AA.
Would have been much better to just credit them into AS/BA or other OneWorld and see how they are going to audit them.
). Looks like they issued a new ticket as the original ticket was six segments over two weeks and now the postings are in three parts instead of one with six segments.Believe me, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, just surprised that they went back, found the original ticket and fare, and then adjusted it all three weeks later when in the old system I had never seen that.
Mar 31, 2017, 4:56 pm
#806
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
EXP phone agent put me into J on new flights after being comp upgraded originally (which I know is NOT what is supposed to happen, but they offered and who am I to say no, especially in IRROPS ). Looks like they issued a new ticket as the original ticket was six segments over two weeks and now the postings are in three parts instead of one with six segments.
Believe me, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, just surprised that they went back, found the original ticket and fare, and then adjusted it all three weeks later when in the old system I had never seen that.
). Looks like they issued a new ticket as the original ticket was six segments over two weeks and now the postings are in three parts instead of one with six segments.Believe me, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, just surprised that they went back, found the original ticket and fare, and then adjusted it all three weeks later when in the old system I had never seen that.
Mar 31, 2017, 9:46 pm
#807
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
EXP phone agent put me into J on new flights after being comp upgraded originally (which I know is NOT what is supposed to happen, but they offered and who am I to say no, especially in IRROPS ). Looks like they issued a new ticket as the original ticket was six segments over two weeks and now the postings are in three parts instead of one with six segments.
Believe me, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, just surprised that they went back, found the original ticket and fare, and then adjusted it all three weeks later when in the old system I had never seen that.
). Looks like they issued a new ticket as the original ticket was six segments over two weeks and now the postings are in three parts instead of one with six segments.Believe me, I'm not looking that gift horse in the mouth, just surprised that they went back, found the original ticket and fare, and then adjusted it all three weeks later when in the old system I had never seen that.
Jul 26, 2017, 3:05 am
#810
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, TK Elite, BT VIP, AA, BA, SK, DL, NT, WB + hotels
Posts: 8,748
A month ago, I flew 4 segments on FJ, but none of them have posted. Trying to fill in the missing mileage credit form, they ask you to fax tickets and boarding passes in. Unfortunately, here in Finland the only fax machines are the ones on display at the technical museum. I didn't know they still use them in the US... Is there any other option, perhaps an email address or even snail mail? Thanks!